A diabetes education programme has been updated in a bid to ensure “optimum care” and help healthcare professionals to “avoid costly and devastating complications” in their patients.
Effective Diabetes Education Now! (EDEN) is a comprehensive training package aimed at improving the knowledge and skills of diabetes care teams, so that they can deliver high-quality levels of care to people in the community.
EDEN Lead Laura Willcocks said: “With the increase in type 2 diabetes, the NHS needs to be in a position to offer optimum care to help people manage their condition and avoid costly and devastating complications and admissions.
“Based at the Leicester Diabetes Centre, we are ideally positioned to upskill healthcare professionals working in diabetes and transform clinical practice through education.”
EDEN is made up of 12 modules which have been updated to incorporate the latest clinical evidence and practice as the result of a thorough review.
Three new modules have also been created as part of the review. They include ‘Cultural Competency’, ‘Fundamentals in Caring for the Older Person with Diabetes’ and ‘Behavioural Change Approaches’.
In the UK, more than 2.7 million people already have type 2 diabetes while a further 750,000 are believed to have the symptoms, but are yet to be diagnosed with the condition.
Geri Gray, a Diabetes Specialist Nurse working in the EDEN team, added: “EDEN is about meeting the needs of healthcare professionals delivering diabetes care through up-to-date and effective diabetes treatment and care.”
Dr Sam Seidu, GP and Diabetes Lead, said: “Through EDEN, providers will be able to offer their patients optimal management of diabetes and its related conditions and improved health outcomes.”
The education programme has been developed at the Leicester Diabetes Centre, a partnership between the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the University of Leicester, led by Professor Melanie Davies CBE and Professor Kamlesh Khunti.
